Pressure Washing in Charleston, SC

Visitors and local diners are constantly asking me to name the Charleston area’s top waterfront eateries. It might come as a surprise, though, that no more than two dozen locally owned establishments are housed adjacent to the water. Even fewer serve food that can stand on its own without the surroundings.

The view matters, and these 10 Charleston-area establishments fit the bill. With oysters, fried fish and more, each one delivers the fresh seafood-focused fare people expect to find in Charleston, too.

Bowens Island Restaurant

It’s hard to argue with an evening at Bowens Island Restaurant, minutes from Folly Beach. Enjoy cold beer and fresh oysters picked daily from the waters surrounding the 13-acre island while watching the sunset.

The James Beard Foundation American Classic pick is almost 80-years-old and an essential introduction to steamed oysters, but don’t expect white tablecloth service. At Bowens, piles of oysters are dumped onto half or full trays, and guests are handed oyster knives for self-shucking.

Food

Coda Del Pesce

Enjoy Italian seafood inspired cuisine at chef Ken Vedrinski’s signature beachfront restaurant on Isle of Palms. Start the meal with a crudo or Prince Edward Island oysters and finish with fusilli with blue crab, ricotta gnudi, potato-crusted wreckfish and more.

Ellis Creek Fish Camp

Six years after a fire destroyed the 3-week-old Boathouse on Ellis Creek, the restaurant’s owners opened Ellis Creek Fish Camp on the same site.

Offering sweeping views of Charleston, the James Island establishment serves hush puppies, whole fried okra, crab cakes sandwiches, shrimp and grits, grouper platters and more.

Fleet Landing

Fleet Landing is owned by Tradd and Weesie Newton and is housed in a 1940s-era naval debarkation building. Visited by the likes of celebrity chef Andrew Zimmern, Fleet Landing serves bivalves on the half shell with house-made cocktail sauce at its new oyster bar, which overlooks the Charleston Harbor. Other options include shrimp and grits, whole fried flounder and blackened triggerfish.

Island Cabana Bar

Find Island Cabana Bar beyond the Morrison Yard development on the banks of Charleston Harbor. The walk from a gravel parking area to the waterfront eatery takes you past the headquarters of the Island Coastal Lager beer brand that owns the 2-year-old eatery. The square brick building once served as the county jail.

The sunny seaside setting joins a menu of fresh, simply prepared fish. Juicy blackened mahi mahi bites, buffalo fried oysters, conch fritters, a tuna salad and fish tacos can be split amongst a group. Grab a bucket of beer and walk down the long pier with a swath of pea-green marsh in view. Gaze over the calm water at cars rushing across the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, the iconic Patriots Point visible in the background.

The experience won’t overwhelm your senses, and the food is far from complex. But when asked about Charleston waterfront dining, this is what I believe diners are looking for.

Islander 71

Morgan Creek Grill ended a 17-year run at the Isle of Palms site in 2019. The city leased the restaurant space to Isle of Palms residents Dave and Chrissy Lorenz and Jon Bushnell, who opened Islander 71 Fish House and Deck Bar at 80 41st Ave. in May 2022.

NORTH CHARLESTON — A new restaurant from a New York chef is bringing a signature brick chicken, Korean nuggets and hand-cut fries to Spruill Avenue near The CODfather and Holy City Brewing.

Barnyard Chicken is now open at 4262 Spruill Ave., where chef Eric Hara is churning out chicken-themed plates in the type of laid-back atmosphere he craved after a career in fine dining restaurants.

Hara began his eclectic career in New York restaurants and made his way to California, where he and his wife launched an organic cookie business that sold in Whole Foods Market. He moved to Costa Rica to slow down but ended up opening a restaurant there.

When his kids were ready to come back to the U.S., the Haras chose Charleston. The former Food on Spruill location fit Hara’s vision for the type of restaurant he wants to operate at this stage of his career.

For food, Barnyard Chicken offers sticky wings, chicken liver toast, a red wine-braised bird and the brick chicken, made using poultry from Murray’s in New York. Patrons can expect table service with the option to pick up orders to-go from a takeout window.

Barnyard Chicken is now open from 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday-Saturday. For more information, visit barnyardparkcircle.com.

Parker Milner

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - South Carolina’s Department of Public Health says almost 15,000 people, including children and teens, are living with HIV infection or AIDS in the state.

The spokesperson for Palmetto Community Care, an organization that offers free HIV testing, says eight out of the top ten states or U.S. territories of new HIV diagnoses per 100,000 people are considered to be in the Deep South.

South Carolina is one of them.

“It’s crucial for us to talk about it, especially on Southern AIDS awareness day because there’s so many layers that make testing difficult for people,” Palmetto Community Care spokesman Richard Reams says.

He said HIV/AIDS testing doesn’t necessarily cater to one demographic.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “recommends all patients between the ages of 13 and 64 get tested for HIV at least once as part of routine health care.”

Tuesday is Southern HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, so Palmetto Community Care will not only offer free testing but will also offer a gift card for future testing.

Reams says the reason why they advocate for the HIV and AIDS diagnoses is to help break down any stigma that may be present.

“I think the more concerning part is that the south continues to rank so high in the per capita diagnosis, it’s not necessarily that there are more it’s just that we’re not making the date that we should,” Ream says.

Ivy Hill is the Director of Gender Justice for the Campaign for Southern Equality.

Hill says they encourage people to get tested and find out their options.

“I think there’s a lot of the old rhetoric leftover got to be HIV positive is like a death sentence and that’s just really not the case it was,” Hill says.

Hill also says the medication has advanced.

“It’s not a scary thing it’s quick it’s easy and if you do get a positive you know like I said medicine has come so far and there’s absolutely if you do get a positive result now you know and then there are treatments out there to get you back to an undetectable level which means you’re also on transmittable and folks live long, healthy, happy lives,” Hill says.

Reams says to find out your options, you need to find out your status.

Palmetto Community Care offers HIV/AIDS testing on Tuesdays from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., including every other day they are open.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - The Charleson Waterkeeper is warning people that unsafe levels of bacteria persist in the Charleston area waterways, even two weeks after Tropical Storm Debby dumped more than a foot of rain on the Lowcountry.

Charleston Waterkeeper Andrew Wunderley and his team collect and test water samples from 20 different areas throughout the summer to update a weekly water quality and swimming safety report.

Their data spans the coast, from Folly Beach to Filbin Creek to Shem Creek. They decide if a site is safe or unsafe to swim based on bacteria levels. The state bacteria standard for safe water is less than 104 bacteria cultures per 100 milliliters of water.

“When we have a lot of rain, like what happened with Tropical Storm Debby, we always expect high bacteria results. So, you can imagine that everything that’s on the ground is going to end up in the water during a storm or a flood event like that,” Wunderley says.

Wunderley explains that between sewer overflows, septic tank groundwater and flooding issues at Plum Island sewage facility, Debby’s rains brought a lot of unsavory bacteria into the waterways. While it’s common for the team to see elevated levels, every site tested failed the safety measure.

“The last time we had all sites show up as high levels of bacteria was after the 1000-year flood back in 2015 so it’s a really rare occurrence. We’ve had that for two weeks now. It’s going to take a lot of time for this polluted flood water to work its way through the system and for the system to heal itself,” Wunderley says.

The team sampled the water Aug. 8 and Aug. 14; the day after the storm hit and about a week later, respectively. They will test the waters again on Wednesday and post the results within 48 hours.

“So, it’ll bounce back, and it’s going take some time, right,” Wunderley says.

For now, Wunderley advises people to avoid staying in the water for long periods of time or bathe well after exposure to the water.

“It’s important to know because swimming or recreating in water with high bacteria levels can get you sick. So, we’re talking about ear, nose, throat, eye infections, gastroenteritis, skin infections, things like that,” Wunderley says.

With King Tides expected this week, Wunderley reminds people that the flood waters will be a bit of a health risk as well.

“The more often that we have these big heavy rain events, the more stress it puts on the system, and the harder it is for the estuary to clean itself over time. So, if we keep putting stress on the system like this, we’re going to have poor water quality all the time,” Wunderley says.

He stresses how important the local wetlands are to the natural filtration of the Lowcountry waterways and continues to be an advocate for prioritizing clean water and wetland protection amid storm season.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.

Charleston is one of the most haunted cities in the U.S., but despite all the spooky tours, the one thing the peninsula doesn’t have is a Halloween venue. Until now.

A group of event planners, professional actors and scenic designers known as Holy City Halloween LLC have banded together to lease the century-old Woolfe Street Playhouse from August to November and turn it into a one-time haunted house.

Originally built in 1914 in Charleston’s industrial district, the building at 34 Woolfe St. was owned for half a century by the Meddin family.

Married couple Hyman and Doris were operators of the Meddin Bros. Meat Packing Co., the largest business of its kind in the region at the time. The Charleston site was a satellite for the company’s Savannah headquarters.

Business

The business closed in the 1980s and was briefly used for storage by the College of Charleston in the 1990s. Following years of vacancy, the building underwent major renovations in 2012 to become the Woolfe Street Playhouse under Mrs. Meddin’s support. Village Repertory Co. moved into the 17,000-square-foot venue in December 2012.

But it’s the slaughterhouse that serves as the inspiration for this year’s Halloween venture.

Holy City Halloween said it plans to treat visitors to a narrative centered around the Charleston meat house, with a fictional story about a shipment of meat gone bad. Charlestonians eat it, die and become a series of zombies haunting guests in 13 rooms.

The masterminds behind the venture include Boomer Oyler from Becket Agency, Thomas Smith, owner of North Charleston production company Innovative Event Services, and Jeff Booth, the mind behind the Holy City’s Barbie blowout last summer and February’s Casino Royale bash at the S.C. Aquarium. Other members include the individuals who started the Nightmare on Calhoun Street at the former Terrace on Marion Square and Bar 145, The Alley’s Studio 300 party and The Haunted Avenue of the Oaks.

South Carolina health inspectors found multiple violations at restaurants in the Charleston area in July, from rat dropping found throughout a restaurant to rodents eating into stored food and an abundance of flies. The state regularly releases grades and inspection reports for food establishments in the Charleston area.

Here are the restaurants that received some of the lowest ratings in July.

Charleston Sports Pub had an inspection on July 25 and got a C grade.

An inspector observed fluid dripping on food in the freezer. Also observed were three containers of cooked chicken wings stored without date marks.

Raw meat, black beans, sliced cheese, rice and sugar were seen stored uncovered. Food storage containers were seen unclean to sight and touch. Organic residue was seen on the bar nozzle holder and edge of the ice bin.

Pint glasses were seen stored lip surface down on a discolored cloth. Black discoloration was seen on cutting boards. An accumulation of grease was seen on equipment on the cook line.

The restaurant had a required followup inspection on July 29 and got an A grade.

Saveurs du Monde Café had an inspection on July 18 and got a C grade.

An inspector observed packages of granola, powdered sugar and grain with chew holes in them from rodents. Also observed were flies around the bar.

Bulk foods were seen in rolling bins where food inside had other food that had fallen in it because it was not properly closed or covered. Also seen was food stored on the floor.

An accumulation of organic material was seen in the ice machine.

The restaurant had a required followup inspection on July 30 and got an A grade.

Taco Boy had an inspection on July 23 and got a C grade.

An inspector observed organic matter on the can opener blade and in the ice machine. Also observed was bulk food and a pot of queso stored on the floor.

Certain foods were seen not kept at proper holding temperatures. Cleaned dish ware was seen placed in soiled containers. Glasses were seen stored lip contact surface down on a corroded shelf.

The restaurant had a required followup inspection on July 26 and got an A grade.

Long Island Cafe had an inspection on July 22 and got a B grade.

An inspector observed an abundance of flies in the kitchen.

A employee was seen touching their hair and then not wash hands before serving plates of food. A server was seen eating in the kitchen.

Organic matter was seen in the ice machine. A buildup of organic matter was seen on the bar drink dispenser.

The restaurant had a required followup inspection on July 29 and got an A grade.

Sunsets Waterfront Dining had an inspection on July 24 and got a B grade.

An inspector observed rodent droppings in the dry storage room, under a sink and on a shelf on the cook line. Also observed were house flies in the facility.

Organic accumulation was found in three ice machines. Rust accumulation was seen on the food contact side of sauté pans.

The restaurant had a required followup inspection on July 29 and got an A grade.

This story was originally published August 17, 2024, 6:00 AM.

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Patrick McCreless is the service journalism editor for The State, where he and a team of reporters write about trending news of the day and topics that help readers in their daily lives and better informs them about their communities. He attended Jacksonville State University in Alabama and grew up in Tuscaloosa, AL.